Human Compensation

Inuyasha had thrown Kagome on the bed when he’d taken her back to their room. He glared down at her in anger. “Why don’t you ever listen to me!? Sesshoumaru could have killed you.”

Kagome looked down at the sheets. “I thought he respected me...Why would he change so quickly?”

“Rin’s life was in danger that takes priority over everything in Sesshoumaru’s life. Kagome, I know you don’t understand the ways of youkai, but you better do as I say from now on. Do not make me kill my own brother.” He told her again.

Kagome nodded and glanced out the window. She was still very worried about Rin. As if reading her mind, Inuyasha let out a loud sigh.

“Rin is okay. Sesshoumaru would never harm her. He’s probably just locked her in her room for a couple of days.” Inuyasha said, not knowing how right he was.

His cell phone on the table beside the bed rung loudly. Walking over to it, he picked it up and answered.

“She’s...gone,” Miroku’s hoarse voice was on the other line.

Inuyasha stiffened. He could hear the pain and anger in Miroku’s voice and knew he was talking about Sango. His eyes turned sideways to Kagome to see if she was listening. She was still staring out the window deep in thought.

“What do you mean?” He asked Miroku trying to be as discreetly as possible.

“He took her...Naraku...took her!” Miroku hissed between gritted teeth.

“Where are you?” Inuyasha asked.

“The hospital in her room. I looked around and found bodies of everyone hidden in closets on this floor. It must have just happened that’s why noone knew. It must have just happened while I was in the elevator. It must have been done quickly, quietly, too fast for the human eye...”

Inuyasha frowned a little as he listened to Miroku. His voice was beginning to sound deranged. “Stay there, do you hear me? I’ll be right over. Do not go anywhere!” He ordered. He hung up the phone and turned to Kagome. This time she was watching him.

“Is anything wrong?” She asked.

“Just some business I have to take care of.” He did not want to tell Kagome this. She was already worried about Rin. He walked towards her and caressed her cheek with his fingers. Her eyes looked up at him in surprise. “Promise me you won’t try to see Rin again? Swear on your life.”

“I promise,” she said with a nod to confirm it.

“Swear it.”

“I swear I won’t try to go see Rin.”

He nodded satisfied. “Stay out of Sesshoumaru’s way if you see him.” He told her as he walked out the door.

“As if I needed to hear that,” Kagome mumbled.

*********************************************************************

Inuyasha found Miroku sitting on the floor in Sango’s room near the doorway. He was leaning upside the wall staring at the huge hole across from him. He looked as if he was in shock.

“Yo, Miroku. You okay?” Inuyasha asked standing in front of him.

Miroku said nothing. He turned his gaze to the floor.

Inuyasha felt a deep sympathy for him. He and Sango had went through so much, now this. He didn’t understand why this was happening to his friend. He growled softly and looked around the room.

“This is Naraku’s work all right. I can still smell his lingering stench. What the hell does he want with Sango?”

“She was just getting better. She was coming home with me,” Miroku said, his voice void of emotion.

Inuyasha turned to him. “Don’t worry, Miroku. We’ll get her back. If I have to threaten and kill every one of his workers to find out what he did with her, I’ll do it and bring her back to you.”

Miroku looked up at him. “Do you think I’d let you do this alone? Sango is my responsibility. I’ve failed her. I tried so hard to protect her and still I failed her. Naraku doesn’t know what revenge is until now.”

“We can’t do anything until we tell Sesshoumaru about this,” Inuyasha said.

Miroku stood up. “Sesshoumaru can go to hell. I’m taking this matter into my own hands. This is personal. He took Sango away from me. The love of my life! Don’t you understand??!!”

Inuyasha nodded slowly. “Yes, I understand and I’ll be behind you one hundred percent with whatever you decide to do.”

They heard footsteps and voices coming from the hallway.

“Let’s get out of here before they find us and think we had something to do with this,” Inuyasha said. He grabbed Miroku and jumped out the window before Miroku could stop him.

**********************************************************************

Sango woke up two hours later in a hard bed. She moaned as the pain from her broken arm and leg shot through her. The room she was in was dark and cold. She couldn’t see a thing. Her heart begin to quicken in fear. Where was she? Why was it so dark? She couldn’t move around because of her broken limbs. Something didn’t feel right. Raising her good arm, she reached over her body and felt for the cast. It was gone. She quickly touched her leg. The cast was gone from it too. Visions begin to flash before her eyes as she remembered what happened to her. She’d been awake waiting for Miroku. She been so happy because she had agreed to live with him. It had been a huge decision on her part. She realized she couldn’t continue to pretend that she wasn’t in love with Miroku after the night they had that long talk. The night Miroku had asked her to marry him. She remembered laying there thinking of all the wonderful things they would do together when the crash came. She barely had time to turn around to see what had happened when someone dressed in dark, flowing cloak grabbed her and covered her mouth with a foul smelling cloth. It was the last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness.

She coughed from the dust in the room. It had an old smell about it, like it hadn’t been used in years. She was scared, very scared of laying in this place, completely helpless. Something crawled over her bare legs. She realized she was still in her hospital gown and the thin material did nothing to shelter her body from the coldness of the room or the creature with claws crawling over her leg. She stiffened and tried not to scream out loud as it made it’s way up her thigh. Using her good leg, she moved it over her broken one to knock the creature off. It was plump and furry. A rat?

The door to her room opened slowly. It creaked loudly and let in a light from the hallway. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Naraku walked in carrying a lamp that lit up the room. He was followed by a woman dressed in a dark, flowing cloak. A hood hid her eyes, but Sango could see the lips of a woman.

“Sango, you’re awake. I was hoping you might be.” Naraku said standing over her bed. The mysterious woman stood on the opposite side.

The light from the lamp outlined Naraku’s handsome features. Sango would have spat in his face if she wasn’t laying down.

“Such hate in those beautiful eyes. It breaks my heart,” Naraku taunted. He leaned over and rubbed his cold fingers against her cheek. “But you won’t hate me for long my dear.” He leaned back up with an evil smile.

Sango heard a heavy rustle from the cloak the woman was wearing. She turned around just in time to see her reach in and pull out a syringe with a long needle. She tensed.

“What are you going to do to me?” She asked.

Naraku smiled when he heard the fear in her voice. “Relax, Sango. I’m going to make things all better for you. You’ll feel like a new person after she’s done and all of your worries will be over. All your wounds will be healed. You’ll be a healthy, vibrant woman again Doesn’t that sound like bliss? I’m actually doing you a favor.”

Sango turned back to the woman when she grabbed her broken arm. She wanted to lash out at her in anger for the pain she was causing her. The hood the woman was wearing slipped off her head and for the first time Sango got a look at her face. She stared up at her in shock..

“K..Kikyo?!” She whispered. Kagome had told her she was dead. Had she been wrong?

Naraku snickered at her surprise. He moved around the bed and stood close behind Kikyo. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his cheek against hers as Kikyo stood there staring at Sango blankly.

“Yes, Kikyo. Alas, I couldn’t bare to depart with my dearly, beloved so I had her cloned. Ahh, the wonders of modern technology. I had a hard time getting to the remains of her body. Had to eliminate an entire wolf tribe to do it. It was quite a mess.” He gave a depressed sigh and released his hold on Kikyo. “But, as much as they duplicated her looks, she will never be the original Kikyo. She is only a puppet who does anything I tell her. I rather like her this way. And you will be the same, beautiful Sango. However, you won’t be cloned. You get to keep your original body and the only thing you loose is your soul.”

Sango’s body tensed in horrible pain as the needle went through her skin and the dark liquid was injected into her veins. It burnt like fire. She tried to keep from screaming out as she convulsed on the bed. Images of Miroku flashed through her mind. ‘I’m sorry my love. I’m sorry I let you down. I love you. I wish I had told you sooner,’ she thought. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her face. “MIROKU!!” Was the last word she screamed before her soul left her body.